UNLV notebook: Rebel women excited to begin Mountain West soccer play

Thursday, Oct. 5, 2000 | 9:33 a.m.

The UNLV women's soccer team is more than halfway to accomplishing one of its preseason goals, and the Rebels begin their quest to attain another when they open Mountain West Conference play this weekend.

"Our goals this year are to finish 13-5-2, we want to finish in the top three in our conference and we want to try to make it to the final in the conference tournament to give us a chance to get into the NCAAs," first-year head coach Dan Abdalla said.

The Rebels bring a 7-4 record into this weekend's conference matches against Wyoming (Friday, 6 p.m.) and Air Force (Sunday, 2 p.m.) at Johann Field.

UNLV, which is unbeaten in three matches at home, will have its hands full in Friday's contest against Wyoming. The Cowgirls, who return 11 starters from last season, are off to the best start in school history with a 6-3-1 record.

Air Force, on the other hand, is 2-9-1 on the season after snapping an eight-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over Army last weekend.

Junior Janae Sims, who scored the first hat trick in UNLV women's soccer history last week against Long Beach State, leads the Rebels with six goals and 14 points.

UNLV (5-4-1 overall, 1-0 in the MPSF) will travel to UC Santa Barbara (5-6) on Friday and then host Cal State Northridge (4-6) Sunday at noon at Johann Field.

Junior forward Jason Melendez leads the Rebels with seven goals, four assists and 18 points.

UNLV (1-12, 1-3) resumes Mountain West Conference play Saturday afternoon at 4 when it hosts San Diego State (8-9, 2-2) at the Thomas & Mack.

Last weekend's win also marked head coach Deitre Collins' 50th victory in her five-year career at UNLV.

UNLV's Leiana Oswald and Amber Graham finished with 14 kills each while Maria Julia Goes contributed 41 assists, nine digs and two service aces against Air Force. Graham added four digs while Oswald hit a team-high .520 (14-1-25) for the game.

UNLV is coming off a sixth-place finish at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle in which seniors Katie Barto and Jenni Lopez finished seventh and eighth in the individual standings.